The following relates to blood product management and more particularly relates to a novel and improved computer programmable method and system for blood product management including cross-matching and compatibility testing of blood products as well as the ability to display information about a patient during the preparation of blood components prior to transfusion and which is specifically adaptable for use in hospitals, clinics and the like.
There is a long-felt need for a blood product management system to help prevent the release of unsafe, unsuitable or ineffective blood products to patients. In a hospital, when an order comes down from a given floor or section of the hospital requesting blood, it is communicated to the blood bank which is typically located at the hospital. The blood bank will search for a suitable product for the patient, i.e. a suitable red blood cell, and in many situations must cross-match the blood product requested with the blood of the patient. Once successfully cross-matched, the blood product is then selected and made ready for issue. Another order or request will then be transmitted when the blood product is actually needed at which time the cross-matched product is delivered to the responsible personnel for providing a blood transfusion for the patient.
It is important to control the compatibility of a blood component and patient's blood to ensure safe transfusion of the component to the patient. This requires tracking of the patient blood attributes and blood component attributes by their respective antigens and antibodies. In addition, it is desirable to incorporate a patient information toolbar into the computer program for displaying and controlling critical patient information during the preparation of blood products prior to transfusion. This information includes patient special needs, patient comments, patient transfusion reactions, availability of autologous blood components, availability of directed blood components, significant antibodies, patient blood type, expiration of the current patient specimen, and reserved blood components.
The following definitions are given to assist in better understanding the system and steps followed in carrying out the present invention:
“Antigen”: A substance that induces the formation of antibodies and assists the body to distinguish between itself and a foreign substance.
“Antibody”: A protein produced by the immune system in response to the presence of an antigen.
“Blood Type” A blood type is a way to classify blood into various groups. A blood type is determined by the presence or absence of antigens on the red blood cells, and the presence or absence of antibodies in the serum. A blood type definition in the computer database is the combination of antibodies and antigens for each blood group (ABa/Rh)
“Blood Component”: A blood component, also referred to as “blood product”, is one of the portions of a unit of whole blood. Whole blood contains red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets suspended in a watery fluid called plasma. Blood components include red blood cells, plasma, platelets and cryoprecipitated antihemophilic factor (AHF).
“Significant Antibodies”: Any antibody, other than those for A and B (which are expected), that might cause a serious (“hemolytic”) reaction after transfusion of blood containing the corresponding antigen.
“Segment”: A portion of the blood component that can be detached and subsequently used for testing.
“Product ID Tag”: The Product ID Tag is attached to the blood product being processed or issued to a patient. It contains information about the patient and the blood product to help in the identification and validation of the patient and product. The Product ID Tag is one of the mechanisms that transfusion services and hospitals use to verify that the patient and the product are correctly matched before transfusion. A typical Product ID Tag consists of three different sections:
1. Patient Information Section. This section contains critical patient information necessary to identify the patient. It is used to identify the patient in regard to the hospital, blood type and blood antibodies, as well as special needs associated with the patient.
2. Product Information Section. This section contains relevant product specific information regarding unit of blood to which this section is physically attached. This section is used to identify the unit of blood, blood type, and antigens. In addition to the product information, it contains information regarding cross-match testing, and lists any prohibiting factors and comments relevant to issuing of this product to the patient identified in the Patient Section of the report.
3. Transfusion Information Section. This section is created for recording handwritten information during transfusion. This section is a form that is filled out by the technician before, during and after transfusion of the product attached to the report. This section is used to record relevant information to the transfusion process, which can later be entered into the computer program database.
Accordingly, there are specific requisites to reliable, secure cross-matching of certain blood products, namely, receiving an order for the blood product, tracking segments of the blood components in inventory, locating a specimen of the patient's blood and transferring it to a given location, which typically would be a lab or blood bank at the hospital where the inventoried blood segments are located.
It is therefore a feature to control the remote testing of compatibility of a blood product and patient specimen to ensure the safety of the blood component transfusion into the human body by using a segment of the blood product assigned at the lab and mixing it with a portion of the patient specimen so as to achieve efficiency in the delivery of blood components both for emergency and non-emergency situations.
Another feature is to provide a computer system that enables remote testing of patient blood and a segment of the blood component intended for transfusion remotely through the steps of (a) assigning a blood product, which is typically stored at a central facility, to a patient for testing at the central facility and preparing a segment of the blood component; (b) transferring to the facility a blood specimen drawn from the patient; (c) testing the segment of the blood component assigned with the blood specimen drawn from the patient to determine their compatibility; (d) whether or not compatible, printing a product ID tag at the facility where the blood component is located; and (e) continuously tracking movement of the blood product and specimen between the central facility and hospital on a database.
Another feature is to track patient blood attributes and blood component attributes in such a way as to ensure that the attributes are compatible with each other as well as to ensure that the transfused blood component is compatible with the patient who is receiving the transfusion.
A further feature is to provide for a novel and improved method and means for displaying critical patient information during the preparation of blood products prior to transfusion so as to make readily available to the medical technician important current and historical information about the patient.
In one aspect, a method of managing and tracking blood products is provided for use between a plurality of remote patient facilities and a central blood testing facility including the steps of obtaining a blood specimen from each patient who requires a blood reserve, selecting a blood product for cross-matching with each said patient specimen, cross-matching each said patient specimen and said blood product to determine their compatibility with one another, and providing a database for the entry of information pertaining to each patient. Preferably, the step of storing information is further characterized by information relating to a patient's special needs, prior transfusion history, autologous blood availability and its location, blood type and patient specimen expiration date. Still further, the method is characterized by being able to record information as to the location and patient blood attributes in the database.
A system has been devised for managing and tracking blood products between a central blood test facility and a plurality of remote facilities which includes means for recording information on a database which identifies each patient requiring a blood reserve, means for obtaining a blood specimen from each said patient, means for assigning a segment of a blood product for cross-matching and for cross-matching each said segment and patient specimen to determine their compatibility with one another, and means for identifying each segment and patient specimen determined to be compatible as well as storing same in the computer.
The above and other objects, advantages and features will become more readily appreciated and understood from a consideration of the following detailed description of preferred and modified forms when taken together with the accompanying drawings in which: